After the success of our first industry interview with Sherise Hobbs from Headline, we were thrilled to receive the answers to some questions we had sent to the very friendly Hannah Torjussen who works at Little, Brown. We hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did!

1. Can you tell us, in as little detail or as much detail as you wish, what exactly it is you do within the publishing industry?

The publicity department here at Sphere is incredibly busy on a daily basis. We handle a number of media enquiries, with requests for review copies, interviews and features coming in from the national and regional newspapers, magazines, websites, TV and radio stations. I plan and carry out publicity campaigns for around four new titles a month, and this involves writing press releases, sending out review copies to all the literary editors and key reviewers, and pitching to journalists in order to persuade them to feature or review my titles and authors. I also need to stay in constant contact with my authors and keep them updated on any news of coverage, as well as manage their interview and events schedules, which can involve promotional book signings and festival appearances across the country.

2. What was your road to working in publicity?

I have always loved books and after studying English at university I was keen to explore a career in publishing. I sent out hundreds of letters to different publishing companies and managed to get an interview with Darton, Longman and Todd, a small independent theological publishing house in London. My role was publicity assistant, and while publicising academic theology books might sound quite unexciting and dull, I had a fantastic time coming up with all sorts of creative ideas to get the national press to take notice of the books we published – I arranged a themed launch party which was attended by African royalty, I created a brand new website for the company, I designed adverts that appeared on the London underground and I worked on books by the Archbishop of Canterbury. After a year and a half I knew that I definitely wanted to stay working in book publicity but move to a larger, more commercial company. I joined Piatkus, and three months later they were bought by the Little, Brown Book Company. I have since worked my way up to Press Officer, working mainly on the Sphere imprint.

3. What would it take for a regular Jane to get into the publishing industry in the publicity sector? Are there any special degrees required?

Usually you would be expected to be degree-educated, and while there are special courses in all aspects of publishing that you can take, as long as you are able to demonstrate an enthusiasm for books, a keen attention to detail, creativity, and confidence in pitching ideas there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to join a department at an assistant level. Jobs are regularly advertised in The Bookseller and in the Guardian Media supplement – both of which have websites.

4. Jane Beaton’s second book in the Downey House series Rules will be out in March, what will you be doing to help launch the book and to try and get as many people as possible to pick it up?

We had fantastic coverage for Class, the first book in the series, which published in 2008, with reviews appearing in Glamour, Red, Closer, Heat, Irish Tatler, Company, Star magazine, and across a number of websites. Jane and I have put together a couple of features ideas, and as the monthly magazines start putting together their issues three to four months in advance, I’ve already starting talking to the reviewers about the brilliant second book. Review copies tend to arrive six weeks before publication and its my job to make sure that a copy will land on the desk of all the appropriate literary editors, reviewers and features desks. As reviewers receive a huge amount of books on a weekly basis, I try to find ways of making mine stand out – be it with an eye-catching press release, or by including gimmicks (I sent out copies of the recently published The Pi**ed-Off Parents Club with a treat pack for new members which included chocolate, facemasks, sparkly nail files and a badge welcoming the receiver into the club!). There are also a number of specialist magazines and websites for teachers which may also be worth pursuing, given the setting of the series, and I’ll be donating a number of prize copies for competitions too. One area of publicity that is becoming increasingly vital to target is online – websites, blogs, forums and social networking sites like twitter. It’s difficult to measure the success of online campaigns for books, but if I can identify some key places to start a buzz about a book, word can spread quickly amongst the target audience.

5. I’m not sure how many fantastic authors you’ve worked with, but I can assume it’s been a fair few. Can you tell us who your favourite author to work with was?

I have been extremely fortunate in working with some very exciting and talented authors including Kathy Lette, Joanne Harris, Alex James, Mark Billingham and Jenny Colgan. A definite highlight has to be the lovely Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, who came in to the office to sign copies of their best-selling Long Way Down books, and I once had to escort Tara Palmer-Tomkinson to an interview with Richard and Judy!

6. Who are some of your favourite authors/books to read?

I still love the classics (you can’t beat Jane Austen!), but at the moment I’m reading Ghostwritten by David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas is one of my all time favourites). I also love anything by Marian Keyes, Sarah Waters, and Martina Cole. I’ve also been reading an early copy (another perk of the job!) of Sharon Osbourne’s debut novel, Revenge, which we are publishing this March – it’s brilliant!

7. Can you tell us a random fact about working in the publishing industry.

There are predominantly more women working in publishing than men. Here at Little, Brown approximately 75% of our workforce is female, so if you’re hoping to meet your future husband at work this isn’t the best industry to pursue!

8. Finally, can you tell us what you’re currently working on publicising?

This month I have four wonderful novels to work on – The Hidden Heart of Emily Hudson by Melissa Jones, The Pi**ed-Off Parents Club by Mink Elliott, The Wish List by Martina Reilly and Finding Home by Roisin McCauley. However, we tend to work across a six-month period, so I’m already looking at my May and June titles. Highlights for this Spring include the new Dorothy Koomson, The Ice-Cream Girls (March), Sharon Osbourne’s Revenge (March) and the hilarious Tabloid Girl by Sharon Marshall (May). It’s going to be an exciting year!

Thanks so much, Hannah!

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